The UN says that about 300,000 people in Sudan have died since fighting began in 2003. More than 1.4 million people are thought to have fled their homes.

Government forces and allied Arab militias are accused of targeting black African civilians in the fight against rebels.

It is unlikely that South Africa will face sanctions for allowing Mr Bashir to leave the country even after a court order barred him from doing so, says the BBC's Nomsa Maseko in Pretoria.

A number of African countries have in the past decided not to co-operate with the ICC. The court has been accused of racism and bias against African leaders.

So as things stand, Mr Bashir appears to have left South Africa with the blessing of the African Union, our correspondent says.

Media captionThere has been an "erosion of trust" in the ICC in South Africa, says counsel Karim Khan

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the ICC's warrant for the arrest of Mr Bashir must be implemented by countries who have signed up to the court's statutes.

As a member of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to arrest anyone charged by the court.

Press review: 'A precedent for other leaders'

The South African press has been considering the repercussions of the attempt to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who had been attending an AU summit.

IOL News said Mr Bashir's departure would leave "a major constitutional and diplomatic crisis and a big question mark over South Africa's continued membership of the ICC".

The Cape Times said the decision to invite the Sudanese president, despite his indictment by the ICC, had "exposed the fact that the AU considers the ICC largely irrelevant".

"This has the potential to sound the death knell of the ICC," the newspaper said, adding that the arrest "would set a precedent for other leaders on the continent who could be subject to the criminal jurisdiction of the ICC for their actions".

Kenneth Roth, the director of advocacy group Human Rights Watch, tweeted that South Africa appeared to have "shamefully flouted" the ICC and domestic court to free a man "wanted for mass murder of Africans".

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The conflict in Darfur has forced more than a million people from their homes

Darfur conflict: Key points

Fighting began in 2003 when black African rebels in Darfur took up arms, accusing the government of neglect

Pro-government Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, accused of responding with ethnic cleansing

In 2008, the UN estimated that 300,000 people had died because of the war, though Khartoum disputes the figure

More than 1.4 million people have fled their homes

In 2010, the ICC charged President Bashir with genocide in relation to the Darfur conflict

There have been several peace processes, but fighting continues, with numerous armed groups now active